Sermon on the Mount

In the Gospel of St. Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount is a compilation of Jesus' sayings, epitomizing his moral teaching. According to chapters 5-7, Jesus of Nazareth gave this sermon (estimated around AD 30) on a mountainside to his disciples and a large crowd. Matthew groups Jesus' teachings into five discourses, of which the Sermon on the Mount is the first. Modern Christian scholars have suggested the location as a mountain on the north end of the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum. Many Christians believe that the Sermon on the Mount is a form of commentary on the Ten Commandments. It portrays Christ as the true interpreter of the Mosaic Law.

The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes

"Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all." (Mark 6:41)

When the Persians destroyed the Byzantine church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes in 614, the exact site of the shrine was lost. It was only rediscovered some 1,300 years later.

The site was acquired in 1888 by a German catholic society (Deutsche Katholische Palaestinamission) associated with the Archdiocese of Cologne. Since 1939, it has been served by the Benedictine fathers and is administered as a daughter-house of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem.

An initial archeological survey was conducted in 1892. Full excavations, which begun in 1932, resulted in the discovery of the mosaic floor of the 5th-century church (which was found to be built on the foundations of an earlier, and much smaller 4th-century chapel).

The mosaic pavements in the two transepts depict in free-flowing design various wetland birds and plants in a Nilotic landscape popular in Roman and early-Byzantine art.

The most famous of the Tabgha pavements is the restored mosaic found immediately in front of the altar. This depicts two fish flanking a basket containing loaves of bread.

The present church, consecrated in 1982, was built to the same plan as the 5th century Byzantine church. Entrance is through a colonnaded atrium (courtyard) and a narthex (vestibule). The church itself has a central nave, flanked by two aisles. The sanctuary (the area around the altar) is backed by an apse (a half-domed, semi-circular recess), with a transept on each side.

According to the Lady Egeria, the 4th-century church also contained the stone on which Jesus placed the bread. The block of undressed limestone displayed beneath the present altar was found during archeological excavations.

Church of the Primacy of Peter

Just near the Multiplication Church of the Loaves and Fish is the Primacy of Peter's Church, also in Tabgha Israel. The church is small and built out of gray rocks and stone and has a tower on its corner. In John 21, Jesus appears to his disciples for the third time after his resurrection on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The night before, Peter and several other disciples had sailed out on the lake to fish, but caught nothing. In the morning, a man appeared on the shore and called out to them to throw their net on the right side of the boat. Doing so, they caught so many fish they couldn't drag the net back into the boat.

At this point Peter recognizes Jesus, and promptly jumps out of the boat to wade to shore to meet him. The other disciples follow in the boat, dragging the net behind them. When they land, Jesus has prepared a charcoal fire for the fish and provided bread, and they have breakfast together (John 21:9). This is believed to have taken place on the mensa Christi, a large rock incorporated in the chapel. After breakfast, Jesus reinstated Peter (after his three-time denial of Jesus at the crucifixion) with the words "Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-19). This is the event for which the modern church is named, which is interpreted by the Catholic Church to give the Pope (as the successor of Peter) authority over the worldwide Church.

According to Luke, Nazareth was the home of Joseph and Mary and the site of the Annunciation, when Mary was told by the Angel Gabriel that she would have Jesus as her son. Nazareth is also where Jesus grew up from some point in his childhood. In the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph and Mary settle in Nazareth after returning to Israel from Egypt. Many modern scholars argue that Nazareth is probably, in fact, where Jesus was born.

Church of the Annunciation

The Church of the Annunciation, sometimes also referred to as the Basilica of the Annunciation is a church in Nazareth, in modern-day northern Israel. The church was established at the site where, according to Roman Catholic tradition, the Annunciation took place. In other words, it is believed to be the location where Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a virgin, was visited by the Archangel Gabriel and told that she had been selected to be the mother of Jesus. Greek Orthodox tradition holds that this event occurred while Mary was drawing water from a local spring in Nazareth, and St. Gabriel's Church was erected at that alternate site

Jerusalem is the place where Jesus was brought as a child, to be 'presented' at the Temple (Luke 2:22) and to attend festivals (Luke 2:41). According to the Gospels, Jesus preached and healed in Jerusalem, especially in the Temple courts. There is also an account of Jesus' cleansing of the Temple, chasing various traders out of the sacred precincts (Mark 11:15). At the end of each of the Gospels, there are accounts of Jesus' Last Supper in an 'upper room' in Jerusalem, his arrest in Gethsemane, his trial, his crucifixion at Golgotha, his burial nearby and his resurrection and ascension.

Tradition holds that the place of the Last Supper is the Cenacle, on the second floor of a building on Mount Zion where David's Tomb is on the first floor. The place of Jesus' anguished prayer and betrayal, Gethsemane, is probably somewhere near the Church of All Nations on the Mount of Olives. Jesus' trial before Pontius Pilate may have taken place at the Antonia Fortress, to the north of the Temple area. Popularly, the exterior pavement where the trial was conducted is beneath the Convent of the Sisters of Zion. Other Christians believe that Pilate tried Jesus at Herod's Palace on Mount Zion